


Call Me When You're Off Duty

by animangod



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2018-12-23 22:37:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11999364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animangod/pseuds/animangod
Summary: It's a small town that Fai recently moved to... and under advice from a K-9 Unit, he seeks to get to know a man described as having a wolf spirit and a sweet doggy heart.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a small community. Not small enough that everyone knew everybody, but small enough most folks knew their neighbors, who bagged their groceries and were on first name basis with their local police chieftain.

Fai was relatively new to the area, having saved his high school graduation gifts and the money he earned at his part time job to move and set up a diner that would serve as his home and bread maker, pun intended.

One afternoon, after having closed shop early, he had been going several miles above the posted speed limit down a dirt road, while looking at the green scenery when he heard the sound of a police siren turn on. Pulling over to the side, the patrol car soon pulled in behind him. He rolled down his window, and waited for the police officer to approach.

“Licence and registration.”

“Sure thing, Officer,” Fai said with a smile. He reached into his glove compartment and pulled out the registration for the officer, and set it on the seat while he dug out his wallet and pulled out his driver's license, before grabbing both and temporarily handing them over.

The officer took both with him back to his own patrol car, as he entered the information into the computer in his car, checking briefly for any outstanding warrants and the man’s known driving record. Finding nothing that required bringing somebody into the station, he returned to Fai’s car and handed him back his information.

“Do you know why you got pulled over?” Kurogane asked.

“Maybe cuz I was going a wee bit fast?” Fai ventured.

“Fourteen miles over the speed limit is more than just a 'wee bit’,” Kurogane stated as he got out his pad to write the ticket.

“I thought pretty people didn’t get tickets,” Fai smiled sweetly.

“They don’t. That’ll be 150,” Kurogane grumbled.

“You mean, you don’t think I’m pretty?” Fai asked, flashing his eyelashes at him.

“Begging ain’t pretty,” Kurogane stated bluntly, handing Fai his ticket, “on the back will tell you how to pay it. Don’t go speeding anymore.”

Kurogane walked back to his car and left shortly after typing the ticket information into the computer, leaving Fai quite surprised.

A few days later, when Fai got a break from work, he went to go pay his ticket, the first one he’d gotten. As he walked up to the receptionist to pay for it, he smiled charmingly at her when it was his turn.

“Good afternoon,” he greeted.

“Afternoon,” she returned the greeting. “Here to pay a fine?”

“I suppose. Although I’m not quite sure what it’s for. The officer never explained fully,” Fai replied.

“Oh well let’s see,” she requested, and Fai handed her his driver’s licence and the ticket. Pulling up the information in the police database, she got a quiet chuckle out of it. “Oh, you got him as your officer, didn’t you?”

“Him?” Fai asked intrigued.

“Officer Suwa. It says your ticket is for speeding, attempting to bribe an on duty officer, and attempting to flirt with an on duty officer. That’s pretty typical of the tickets we receive from him.”

“So others have tried to get off with a simple warning and failed with this Officer Suwa?” Fai asked curiously.

“Oh yes, he’s quite infamous for it. It’s rare he lets anyone off the hook,” the receptionist nodded. “Why, I think he’s only let three people off the hook in all his years of service, and well, they were having a medical emergency at the time. Once, he even let the passenger ride in the back seat and he drove them to the hospital while the driver drove behind him.”

“I see. That was rather nice of him,” Fai mused aloud.

“Yes; that’s the kind of Officer Suwa is,” she said with a soft smile.

“You sure are smart. How do you know so much?” Fai asked interested as he leaned on the desk.

“Oh, there's a few of the officers that enjoy chatting with me, and you hear quite a few stories that way. One time, someone had rigged their car to blow up balloons when you open the trunk, and they had been pulled over for suspicion of driving intoxicated. That was a sure funny story.”

Fai chuckled softly, “I can only imagine.”

“Oh but you wanted to take care of this fine right?”

“Oh no worries. I’m not in any huge rush to get back to work. Besides, listening to those stories sounds amazing,” Fai smiled. “Maybe I can swing by another time, when it's not because of your work, and I can hear more of those stories?”

“I don't see why not, if the place ain't too busy.”

“That's great. I can even bring over some desserts for you. My friend and I put together a molten lava cake recipe, and they're quite popular at work.”

“Molten lava cake?” She said excitedly, “I haven't had any in almost two years… I'd love to try yours~”

“Sure thing. I'll bring some fresh ones when I come by again.”


	2. Chapter 2

A week had passed before Fai found the time to return again, and as he said, bringing hot molten lava cakes with him. Since the cookie tray was still hot, he held it with oven mitts as he carefully made it past the entrance and inside to see his new acquaintance.

She smiled when she saw him, “Back already?” she asked.

Fai grinned, “Yup, and I brought you the cakes to try.”

She smiled, seeing those cakes. “They look wonderful.”

Fai walked over and for a brief moment held the cookie tray with one hand so he could remove a glove and set it down on her desk to place the tray on top, and pulled out a set of silverware wrapped in a restaurant napkin as well. “Let me know how they are.”

She opened the silverware offered and pulled out the fork, using it to cut into one of the lava cakes and taking a bite.

“Wow, these are really delicious” she said happily.

“Why thank you,” Fai said gaily, leaning on her desk with a foot in the air.

“Do you mind if I share where you work with a friend of mine? I'm sure she would really love to try these as well.”

“Oh sure...a friend of yours is a friend of mine,” Fai smiled.

Fai pulled out an unofficial business card from his wallet before borrowing a pen and scribbling down a small note. First cake on the house, before signing it and handing it to the receptionist lady. “I look forward to meeting her.”

The next day, it was rather quiet inside the diner as Fai worked the kitchen and the counter, when he saw a K-9 Unit patrol car pull up. Knowing he hadn't done anything wrong to be investigated by a K-9 Unit, he watched them for a bit as the two Officers got out, leaving the window open for now for their canine. The female kissed the dog’s head and had him stay in the vehicle since there was no sign about animals being welcomed inside, before heading in with her human partner.

“This is the place, I'm sure of it,” she said with a wide grin.

Fai smiled, “Good afternoon. How may I help you?”

“My friend tells me you have delicious cakes,” she announced her intentions.

Fai smiled brighter, “ah, yes. Please, sit wherever you like. I’ll get you two some menus.”

They chose to sit at the bar counter, near where Fai had been as he went to fetch a couple of menus for them, and handed them over to the two on-break officers.

“So, what would you like to eat?” Fai asked after a moment, grinning at his two customers.

“Which cake do you recommend?” The lady asked.

“Well, if you prefer cool vanilla cake, the strawberry shortcake is really good, but if you're in the mood for some chocolate, there's some hot lava cakes available,” Fai mused to them.

“Ooh, I wanna try those lava cakes of yours please. What about you, Shiyu?”

“I'll have the same,” he nodded in agreement.

“Two plates of lava cakes, coming right up,” Fai smiled and headed into the kitchen. He returned with a tray, presenting the still warm cakes to each of his current patrons as well as a silver tea fork, for which to eat them with.

“Mmm, this is so delicious!” she exclaimed, in the midst of eating a large bite of the cake.

“I'm glad you think so,” Fai smiled at them. “So… you two work in the K-9 Unit?” He asked.

Shiyu nodded, “Fourteen years now for myself. This is my recent partner, Yuzuriha Nekoi…” Shiyu introduced.

“Recent?”

“Yes, my old partners were ready to retire. So they're living it easy now. Ms. Nekoi here joined me after working in police dog training for almost two years.”

“How wonderful,” Fai grinned. “So, where's your canine?”

“He’s in the vehicle. Is it okay if we have him come in? He's well behaved.”

“Oh sure. No one here to complain about being allergic to him. I'll go get him some water.”

Yuzuriha brightened up at that and ran out to the police car to bring in Inuki. Fai came around and set the bowl of water on the ground for the dog and looked up to see a very large dog enter.

“My, maybe I should have gotten a larger bowl,” Fai said.

“This is Inuki. He's the sweetest wolf dog I've had the pleasure to train.”

“Wolf dog? Hyuu~ that's impressive,” Fai said with an imitation whistle.

“You really think so?” Yuzuriha asked hopefully.

Fai smiled, nodding, and lightly joked, “they’re really cute, but I think I would have better luck with a human one instead.”

Yuzuriha and Shiyu both got a laugh out of that. And Shiyu added, “Well, if you’re looking for one, I only know of three in this town.”

“Is that so? And where could I find them?”

“Well, that depends. Do you prefer guys or gals?”

“Both,” Fai replied, “Maybe one with a wolf spirit and a sweet doggy heart.”

Yuzuriha looked at her partners, before looking back at Fai, “You gotta mean Kurogane.”

“Kurogane?”

She nodded, before holding a finger like she was going to explain something. “Officer Y. Kurogane Suwa. He’s all grouchy and growly on the surface but he has a really soft underbelly, if you know what I mean.”

“However, getting him to roll over and show it is the real challenge with him. When he was younger, it was a lot easier,” Shiyu added.

“I see. And where might I find him?” Fai asked.

“When he’s in his office, he’s at East Waterside Station #6,” Yuzuriha helpfully informed him.

“Thanks. I'll have to go pay him a visit one of these days,” Fai grinned.


	3. Chapter 3

It was early morning and Kurogane was filling out paperwork and making notes at his desk, when he overheard someone asking for directions around the place. He thought little of it until that someone was walking over and standing by his desk.

He looked over and scowled at Fai, “what is it?”

Fai kept on smiling, “is that anyway to greet someone who brought you food?” Fai asked holding out a basket of fresh baked goods towards the officer.

Kurogane looked at them before scowling disapprovingly, “why don't you go feed the orphans instead of wasting your time bothering me?”

“You don't want them?” 

“No; now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go saddle up,” Kurogane replied before walking off.

Two desks away, an officer quietly snickered behind a hand and Fai approached her, “something amusing, Officer…?” Fai glanced at the name badge on the desk. T. Daidouji.

She turned her chair around to face Fai, “Trying to flirt with Suwa, huh?”

“Well, I hear he's my type…” Fai said with a smile.

“And who told you that?” she asked.

“Well, Miss Yuzuriha and Mister Shiyu and their wolf dog…”

The Officer snorted, “No wonder.”

Fai tilted his head, “were they wrong?”

“Well, I don't know your type but I know what his type is,” she stated.

Fai leaned the basket on the officer's desk, “oh? And what's that?”

“I'll trade you that information for what's in the basket,” she offered. “If he doesn't want it, it's gotta be sweet.”

“Alright.” Fai fully set the basket down, “so what's Mr. Serious into?”

She dug into the basket and picked out a brownie, taking a bite of it. “Plum wine,” she began, leaving Fai momentarily confused. “He loves his Maganyan comics. Fact, one night, it even saved his life. He eats a lot of pork pancakes and pickled foods. Watching the Olympics is pretty important to him. He has his favorite sports I'm sure but watching athletes at the height of their skills is what he's there for. His favorite people are strong in spirit and have kind hearts and even longer hair. It’s no good to him if the person shows shallow interest, and he's a fair judge of character. He ain't gay but he ain't straight either. If you want him to consider you, you have to get in his inner friends circle, and he’s more likely to be chatty with you if you're drinking buddies. Yet he gets annoyed at people who drink more than they can handle.”

Fai listened intently, the only thing he was less keen about was that his sudden interest preferred pickled foods. But he could overlook that because this man seemed really interesting.

“Thanks for the advice,” Fai said with a grin, taking most of the words to heart.

“Sure. It'd be nice to see him happy like he used to be when he was a kid. Ain't really seen him smile since he grew up. Guess growing up does that to you, but still,” the Officer mentioned munching on the brownie. “He had this really nice smile but lately, it's become rarer than finding diamonds just laying on the ground.”

“Looks like I'm going smile-hounding, then.”

“Best of luck to you.”

Fai left after a little while, saying his farewells for now to the helpful Officer.

Several hours later, Kurogane returned to file some paperwork about his day when he noticed the basket Fai had tried to give to him.

“Where'd you get the basket, Tomoyo?”

Tomoyo swiveled her chair to face Kurogane, “a friend of yours let me have it. I didn't want the delicious snacks to go to waste.”

Kurogane tched at that as he sat at his own desk, “he ain't my friend.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Will you be heading out now?” Tomoyo asked, walking over to Kurogane.

Kurogane looked over to his cousin, planning on just heading home. He grunted affirmatively, “Hn.”

“Would you mind taking me to Clover? Oruha is going to be singing tonight,” Tomoyo asked sweetly.

“Isn't she always?” Kurogane asked. Everyone knew that the popularity of her bar was in large part to the main entertainment, the owner herself and her singing. And just like any bar, it was a place to trade and gather information.

“Well, not always. She may own the place but even she takes some nights off.”

Kurogane let out a sigh, which let the younger officer know he would take her to the bar. “Just don't stay out all night. We have work in the morning.”

“Of course, Kurogane. Thank you.”

 

“It's unusually crowded here tonight,” Tomoyo commented to Caldina as they say at the bar.

“You didn't know? Tonight is July 28, so the miss will be joined by a very special guest,” Caldina began to explain as a middle aged man walked on stage. Placing his monocle on his face to give him 20/20 eyesight, he smiled as he gazed across the crowd before using the microphone to address them.

“Thank you for your patronage to Clover tonight. Some of you may know today is Conservation Day, and Clover here has graciously agreed to donate all proceeds today to help three wonderful charities. Tonight, all alcoholic beverages support the Worldwide Conservation Charity, who work around the world to help save critically endangered and endangered animals from disappearing forever. Food supports the Save the Bees Charity as bees helped make it and now need our help, and Non Alcoholic drinks will go to the Wings of Tomorrow charity, who currently provide help to our insect eating friends, the bats, who are dying from a deadly disease, white nose syndrome. As cute as it makes them looks, it’s extremely dangerous to hibernating bats.”

Caldina leaned on the counter, as she listened to him thank the current patrons. She had listened to him say a very similar speech several times already that night, “he sure does love his bats, doesn’t he?”

Tomoyo turned to look at Caldina, “I hear he even had a bat themed birthday more than once recently. They’re probably his favorite animal. But, I hear he can’t have a bat house at his place with his beehive there.”

“I’m surprised he has one, seeing as he has to carry an Epipen because of them,” Caldina mentioned.

“Just goes to show how batty he really is…” Kurogane murmured.

“And without further ado, may I welcome Oruha and Sue-chan,” Fei introduced.

Oruha walked into stage with a young lady who the only thing throwing off the image of being Oruha’s teen daughter was her stark white hair, short and straight compared to the long curly black hair of Oruha.

The two sang several songs together, all that had a nature theme to them.

Between a set, the bell above the door chimed as a new customer entered the establishment, and Caldina greeted the customer with a smile.

Fai smiled politely at her as walked in and sat down at the bar, “oh hey fancy meeting you here.”

“Oh.. why hello there.. And thanks again for those sweets. They were quite good,” Tomoyo said charmingly.

Fai smiled sweetly, “of course. It was my pleasure.” Glancing over, he saw she was indeed with the same officer as earlier. “Out on a date?” he asked jovially.

Tomoyo giggled at that, “I suppose. I asked my cousin here for a ride home from here.”

“Why are you even telling him that?” Kurogane lightly grumped.

“Oh loosen up, Mr Strick. What could I possibly do with such little information?” Fai waved at him dismissively.

Caldina leaned on the counter, “Good luck with that, buddy. This guy is just a big stick in the mud when it comes to the fun department.”

Fai laughed softly at that, “oh really?” 

Caldina smirked, “yeah, in fact he terrorizes the locals whenever they start getting juss' a lil out of hand.”

“It must be a tough job, but at least he has a good tough face to do it with,” Fai said with mirth as he looked in Kurogane's direction, who was doing his best to ignore Fai.

“Do you still have some of the good stuff?” Kurogane eventually asked.

“Sure do, sugar. It’s in the back,” Caldina said with a friendly wink going off to fetch a few strong liquor bottles for the officer.

“I thought you were going to give your darling cousin a ride home?”

“They aren’t for drinking here, you idiot. I’m taking them home with me.”

Caldina came back carrying a crate full of bottles, and Kurogane got up to pay for them, setting some cash down for the alcohol and taking the box out to his car, and storing it in the trunk. He came back and sat back down beside Tomoyo since he had promised her a ride.

Fai was a bit curious if the alcohol label on the box was accurate, guessing maybe so since Tomoyo said he liked his plum wine, but since Kurogane took it out so quickly hadn’t had a chance to ask Caldina.

Soon, it was well into the performances that evening, and they even got Fei Reed from being the announcer to actually sing in front of the crowd. It was a song he generally only sang for his bees, as those that knew him knew he had a wonderful singing voice but he rarely performed in public. It had been the offer of buying everyone an appetizer that finally won him over since tonight was about the bees and the bats and the animals most in need out there, and he could hardly turn down such a generous offer to help his fuzzy friends.

Eventually, Kurogane grew bored of just sitting at the bar without having any alcohol so he told Tomoyo he’d wait for her in the car. Fai watched Kurogane go, before turning towards Tomoyo.

There was a friendly smile there, and she dismissed Fai’s worries, “Don’t worry about him; he’s just gone to read. He can be rather loud when he does, so he’d rather not disrupt those that’ve come here to drink and listen to the singing.”

“I see,” Fai hummed, “how considerate of him.”

As the bar closed for the night, Tomoyo headed out, laughing with Fai when they heard the sound of “You bastard” coming from Kurogane's car.

“Who's he talking about?” Fai asked.

“Ohohoho, he's just reading his comics. Like I said, he can be very vocal when he's reading,” Tomoyo assured him.

Sure enough, as soon as he felt Tomoyo nearby, he looked over to where they were before glancing at the page he was on and stashed his comic book back in it's spot. Tomoyo smiled as she opened the door, “sorry to keep you waiting” she smiled.

“You better not have a problem getting up in the morning,” Kurogane grunted barely before starting the engine.

As the engine warmed up, Tomoyo rolled down her window, “will you be alright getting home?” she asked Fai.

“Mm-mm probably.”

“You mean you don't have a ride home?”

“Well I didn't think I'd need one. I thought I'd only be stopping for a drink or two.”

“Oh dear,” Tomoyo soon turned from Fai to her cousin, “won't you be so kind and give him a lift too?”

Kurogane tched at that, “what do I look like? A taxi?”

“Well I could tell you what you look like but only if you promise not to charge me a fine for it,” Fai said with a friendly wink.

“I'm off duty, so you'd have to do something incredibly stupid ass and illegal for me to be able to charge you. If it's only mildly illegal, I do have a radio to call for someone who's on active duty,” Kurogane said as his only fair warning.

“Hwoo, so you could still arrest me?”

“Yes, it's called citizen's arrest,” Kurogane said dully. 

“Well Mr Off Duty... Would you mind sparing me from needing to engage in mildly illegal behavior to make it home?”

Kurogane tsked, before relenting, “backseat, common crook.”

“So mean to me,” Fai laughed the comments off as he climbed inside.


	5. Chapter 5

“Sorry to bother you; just going to say hi to someone,” echoed in the office and Kurogane recognized the voice. At first, he thought little of it - his cousin and the man seemed to be getting along fine. But his cousin wasn't who he was there to see that day.

“Good morning, Grumpy Guns,” Fai greeted in a cheerful sing song.

Initially, he pretended he wasn't there. Easier said than done. Especially when Fai started to lean on his desk and invade his personal space.

“Do you need something?!” Kurogane grumped.

Fai smiled, “I just came here to thank you for last night.”

“Not bothering me would be thanks enough; I'm busy,” he grumbled.

Fai just shrugged that off as he sat on the edge of the desk, “But Officer~” Fai wheedled, “you were so sweet to me, giving me a ride home and everything.”

“Oi~ don’t make it sound like it was anything more than keeping your ass out of trouble.”

“But you did keep me from passing out on the side of the road or something worse, so I simply have to thank you,” Fai said, leaning into Kurogane’s space more, then shoving a picnic basket on top of his papers. “I think you’ll like this better than the other day’s offer.”

Kurogane sighed, before he glanced inside the picnic basket. Seeing a few things inside, he turned in his chair towards Ms Daidouji’s desk and pointed an accusatory finger at her. “Traitor!” He barked. “How many times do I have to tell you - Stop trying to hook me up with folks!”

She laughed it off, as she swiveled towards him, hiding her mouth behind a hand, “ohoho .. you can't blame me this time. I'm not the one that told him about you.” She lowered her hand,”C'mon, why don't you give him a chance? He's come here just to see you after all. And he's a good cook.”

“That's what you say - you love sweets,” Kurogane retorted.

“It's not like I just make sweets, just most people like my sweets the most, so it's the first thing I offer,” Fai cheerfully added.

While Kurogane was distracted with bickering with his cousin, Fai had pulled out and opened the jar of plum preserves and spooned out some. When Kurogane turned his chair back towards him to address his comment, he stuffed the spoon in before Kurogane could say anything about it.

Kurogane was quiet while the spoon was still in his mouth. Fai smiled at him, “now you have to tell me how it is.”

Kurogane quietly grumbled, “well it didn't kill me.”

Fai made a quiet chuckle, patting Kurogane on the shoulder, “you're not very big with the praises, are ya?”

“I don't give out praise,” Kurogane muttered.

“Oh then what do you give out?” Fai said flirtatiously.

“Speeding tickets,” Kurogane replied pointedly.

Fai laughed at that, “you say that like that's all you remember me for.”

“Yeah, wouldn't want to get your hopes up,” Kurogane said dismissively, “now shoo. Before I find something to charge you for.”

“Whoo~ so mean to me, this doggy is,” Fai sighed melodramatically.

“What! I am not a doggy! Don't call me that!” Kurogane bristled.

“Ahahah… big growly puppy dog, where are your manners? Maybe you need more sugar to sweeten you up.”

Kurogane felt a vein twitch, “no; now go away before I put you in handcuffs.”

“How rude. You could at least buy me dinner first,” Fai teased him.

There was a low growl and Kurogane muttered “there will be no dinner” as he pulled out his police issued handcuffs only for Fai to finally get up and start to leave.

“Okay, okay… buh-bye growly,” he said blowing a kiss towards Kurogane as he walked away.

Kurogane audibly sighed after he left and he returned his cuffs back to their holder before turning back to his paperwork.

Tomoyo got up from her desk and walked over, softly setting a hand on Kurogane's shoulder. “What is it?”

Kurogane glanced at her, “it's just -” he paused, “forget it.”

“Now that you've started, please continue,” Tomoyo encouraged.

Kurogane was quiet, except for the sound of a sigh before he turned his chair towards his cousin.

“I gave up believing I'd ever fall in love long ago… When will you ladies give it a rest and leave me to remain a bachelor for life?”

Tomoyo frowned some before resting her hand atop his shoulder, “I'm never going to give up that you find true love, but if he really isn't the one, I won't push you anymore, alright?”

“I guess I can live with that,” Kurogane murmured and patted Tomoyo's hand. “Not like you get to be with the one you love.”

“True… but I do get to make her lavish dresses for all her social events and encourage her happiness, and as long as our Mayor is safe and happy, that's good enough for me,” Tomoyo said softly, before cheerfully adding, “And it always makes my night when I get put on her protection detail. Mother doesn't add me often enough.”

“That's because she knows you'd take a bullet for Mayor Kinomoto, and you are her only daughter. She'd die inside if she lost you,” Kurogane commented.

Tomoyo smiled sadly, before teasing Kurogane to lighten the mood, “that just shows how well loved I am. You could use some more of that in your life. So don't purposely try and scare away your new interest. I really think this one could be the one.”

“You’ve already said that about two of them before,” Kurogane retorted.

“That's true but you know they say - third time's the charm,” Tomoyo said with a wink before heading back to her desk.

Kurogane didn't believe in that sort of nonsense, but didn't say it aloud. Still, he’d let her believe in magic and destiny. He'll believe in shelter animals deserve a good home and people would continue breaking the law.


	6. Chapter 6

Soel had heard about her friend's new interest in the break room, and as his best friend and occasional meal snatcher, Soel had to go check him out.

 

It was a cold afternoon, and Soel was released from duty early that day so stopped by the cafe out of uniform.

 

Noticing it was rather busy place as Soel walked in, a waitress soon came by. “Is it just one today?” 

 

Soel nodded, “oh yes.. It's just Mokona today.”

 

The waitress wrote that down and offered the choice of a small booth or a seat at the counter. Soel went to sit at the counter.

 

After a bit, a man dressed in an apron with paw prints and the words “Welcome to the Cat's Eye Cafe” came out and smiled at Soel. “Good afternoon. Have you been here before?”

 

“Nope, but Mokona heard you make wonderful food, so Mokona had to come by,” Soel commented.

 

“Hyuu~ word really travels around here,” Fai voiced a whistle.

 

“It sure does… like Mokona heard you wanna date Mokona's best friend.”

 

“Oh? So you’re Salty Plum’s best friend, huh?”

 

“Mokona sure is. We've been friends for years~. “

 

“Hyuu~ colour me impressed.”

 

“Mokona left the markers at home, so maybe another time,” Soel joked.

 

Fai laughed at that. Oh, yes, he was sure this pal of the plum’s had a great sense of humor that was close to his own. He hoped they could become good friends themselves.

 

“Well now, is there something you would like to get today?”

 

“Milk and chocolate lava cake, please.”

 

“You got it,” Fai said with a bright smile.

 

Fai came out a little while later with a tray containing the officer's milk and lava cake and some silverware.

 

“Here you are,” he said gently setting the goods before Mokona before tucking the tray under his arm and looking to meet red eyes. Similar to Salty Plum's but still different. “So, Mokona, was it?”

 

Mokona nodded, “Yes.”

 

“What do you like to do with Kuro-plum?”

 

“Lots… Mokona loves to go on movie dates and afterwards get dinner. Sometimes if he’s not looking, Mokona will snatch food right from under his nose, and eat it for him. He always grouches about it but if it was something he was really not okay with, he would say so. Once you know him, you know what grouching is to grouch and which is him being serious.”

 

“So he'll grouch and not even mean it?”

 

“That's just part of his dry witty charm,” Mokona said, before taking a bite of the lava cake. “The kids love Kurogane, too. They sometimes follow him like little ducklings. It's really cute to watch.”

 

Fai gushed a bit at the image. “How adorable~ I bet he's great with children.”

 

“He is~ just like a Father. They know he will be upfront with them but if something bad happens, then they can always go to him.”

 

Fai smiled fondly at that.


	7. Chapter 7

“You're going to be Santa this year too, right?” 

 

“What? Why do I have to dress up as the old man? Shouldn't you get someone, who I don't know, actually believes in him?” Kurogane complained.

 

“But you're perfect for the job,” Tomoyo insisted.

 

“Perfect,” Soel echoed. 

 

Kurogane tched at both of them and walked off to the break room to brew a fresh cup of green tea. As he was letting the tea steep, Kendappa walked in and began to brew a cup herself.

 

“So, I hear you're going to be Santa this year?”

 

“I never agreed to it,” Kurogane dismissed.

 

“Well, if you don't, Seishirou Sakurazuka would be more than happy to do it instead.”

 

“I thought he was still working under cover,” Kurogane said a bit confused. And of all the officers, that was one of the few he didn't think would be good around children. Not because he was awful, but since he openly admitted he still used For Dummy books to help him understand people.

 

“You didn't know?”

 

Kurogane raised a brow.

 

“He helped break up that large cult so he's back to his day job.”

 

“Huh… wondered why we had so much more paperwork these days,” Kurogane muttered.

 

“Well as it stands, you two are the only ones under consideration.”

 

“Even Kuyo doesn't want to?” Friendly and believed in Christmas. Only problem with the Santa image was he was a bean pole.

 

“Every year, he's responsible for the reindeer roundup.”

 

“Oh.. right. Forgot we did that.” And you really needed one of the dog workers for that job. He liked the dogs enough but he was no expert on their handling. And while he was good with the  horses, he was not about to put antlers on them. Nope, let someone else get bitten because the horses didn’t like those dumb antlers. He'd probably want to bite someone's hand too. Besides, maybe if he had to do the Santa business, he could at least spare his horse from most of the ordeal.

 

“Well you will have the week to decide if you're going to be Santa again…”

 

Kurogane made a low grunt, before taking his tea to his desk. He went back to filing paperwork and sipping on his tea.

 

He eventually decided to go ahead and do it, mostly because the kids enjoyed it so much. So one weekend before Christmas he looked like a man he never believed in but he never let his own disbelief disillusion the kids as he helped make sure they had a good time while there.

 

When Fai heard Kurogane was going to be Santa, he made him some snickerdoodle and salted plum cookies to support the man's Santa appearance.

 

Fai held the small tray of cookies as he watched Kurogane dressed as Santa with a little kid on his lap.

 

“...I see you've been studying hard. Have you been sleeping alright?”

 

A small nod.

 

“That's good. Learning is good, but so is getting enough sleep.”

 

“Isn't it heartwarming?” Tomoyo said having walked up to Fai, wearing an elf costume.

 

“He sure is,” Fai said as he watched Kurogane discuss the Robo Patrol Remote Control T rex* the kid wanted.

 

“...Ah, and did you prefer the white and black one or the black and blue one?”

 

“The white and black one. And… and if it's not too much trouble, the black and blue one for my brother, so we can play with them together.”

 

“I'll see what I can do for you two,” he said.

 

The boy smiled, “thanks Santa.” He hopped off to let his brother have a turn talking to Santa.

 

 

*Robo Patrol Remote Control T Rex does not really exist as far as I know. But it made a fun name.


End file.
